Livingston Estate
The Livingston Estate Arc is the first part of the Magnis Shrew Story Continuation by NoraaTheExploraa. Story A x Wizard's x Journey "'That was it?" Magnis sighed. He'd expected the exam to put all of his skills to use, and that a life or death struggle would ensue. "That magician guy at the end there was pretty fucking cool, though. If there's anything I got out of the exam it was a goal. I'm going to crush that guy." Magnis had decided on a new goal, but before that, he remembered he had to find that psycho girl from the 3rdphase. "Why couldn't she have just hung around here until I finished... such a hassle to have to go kidnap her from her family." Magnis thought to himself. 'Livingston Estate' was all he had to go on. Her family was supposedly fairly wealthy so it shouldn't be too difficult to find with all the information he now had at his hands, with his Hunter license. He needed to find a computer. He had been wandering aimlessly for a few minutes since leaving the final exam site and found himself in a bustling city. It was close to night time, and casino lights were all he could see down the street he was walking down. They were bright and colorful, just like the masses of people that were also exploring the city nightlife. With all this noise going on, he decided to head off down a side-alley, so that he could hear himself think. A group of 5 motorbike gang members was waiting for him at the end of the alleyway. "Hey, runt, what the fuck do you think you're doing here?" The largest of the group spoke. Magnis assumed he was the boss. "Any of you fine gentlemen know where I can find a library or something? I need a public computer." "A library? And what you're wearing? You have to be fucking with us. Are you a moron?" Another man spoke. He was about the same size as Magnis was, and showed signs of intense working out. He was clearly attempting to compensate for his lacking in the height department. "No sir, I am certainly no fool. Though I would appreciate a bit more politeness if it wouldn't inconvenience you too much." All of the men laughed in unison. The boss picked up a lead pipe and pointed it towards Magnis, smirking. "Get the fuck out of here kid. You don't belong in this city, leave before you get hurt. Though we might hurt you now even when you do decide to-" A knife landed between his eyes before he could finish his sentence. "WHAT THE FUCK! HOW DID HE DO THAT, I NEVER EVEN SAW HIM MO-" Another knife hit its mark. Two down before they could even blink. No fun. Though Magnis wasn't really sure what he expected. "Wrong place, wrong time, fuckers, but I really do need a computer. I suppose you all know the answer to my questions, so I only need one of you. Although I'm having a good day, let's play a game instead. On the count of 3, you're each going to point at one another. If 2 people point at the same person, I'll kill that person. If you each point at a different person, I'll kill you all. How does that sound?" Fear took over the faces of the 3 men. They simultaneously gulped, and Magnis heard it. A smile took to the corner of his mouth. "Well?" Magnis added. "Y-yes okay." One of the men murmured. Magnis counted to 3, excruciatingly slowly, enjoying every second of it. On his mark, 2 of the men instantly pointed at the smallest member. A young delinquent probably around 16. The boy had not made up his mind and was still frozen in fear, not pointing to anybody. "Well, there we go. Come over here kiddo, I'll make it quick." The other 2 shoved him towards Magnis, and he stumbled the rest of the way. Magnis one arm around the boy's shoulders, and casually tossed one of Haley's grenades at the other two. They screamed as Magnis walked on with the other. The noise of an explosion filled the air, and some blood audibly splattered across the walls of the alley. Magnis felt the boy tremble. "Now as I was saying, I need a computer, lead the way." He put his hand on the bikers head and they headed towards the public library. When they arrived, a 'Closed' sign was shown on the glass door. The library was clearly old and rarely used. It was made of old bricks, and the grass to the sides of the pathway leading to the door was overgrown. "You can go now" Magnis muttered, as he kicked the boy away and smashed the glass of the door, climbing through. The inside was in even worse shape than the exterior, with cobwebs on the bookshelves. There was a circular table of computers at the center of the room, and Magnis headed over to one. He turned it on and found the slot to insert his license. He accessed all the information they had on the Livingston family. Fairly boring stuff, details on their acquisition of wealth, a few business scandals, a rumor about their daughter killing a rival businessman. Magnis guessed that the last one was probably true. He eventually found their location, on the north tip of the United States of Saherta. He noted it down and left the library. He hadn't noticed the screaming 20-something-year-old woman that was staring at him as he left. He gave a little wave, flashed his license and left the way he came in. "USS eh?" Thought Magnis. So she was a Sahertan. Little wonder she was so untamed. He would have to cross an ocean to reach the estate. An airship should do it, he had access now that he was a Hunter. Though once he left the library, he realised he was lost. His mind had gone off-track while he was following the biker kid, and he hadn't paid attention to any of his surroundings. "Bollocks... shouldn't have let the kid go..." Magnis mumbled to himself. Now he'd need another hostage. Great. Remembering the woman back in the library, he poked his head through the door and shouted towards her. "Excuse me miss, I don't mean to be trouble but I'm lost. Could you point me in the direction of an airport?" She looked worried but calmed herself as Magnis spoke courteously. She picked up a leaflet from near the entrance, circled a part of it and handed it to him. It was a map of the city. "Um.. could you possibly be able to pay for the damage you did to the door? We don't get much money from the government to keep this library going as no one uses it because-" "No." Magnis cut her off. He strode off looking at the map, rotating it in his hands trying to figure out how he should use it. A few minutes later, and he was there. He walked right past the queue of people lining up to get on the airship and strolled right into first-class, entering in a private room, with a beautiful woman, who was clearly well-off, in several categories. "Excuse me, sir, you can't just come on and-" a flight conductor started. He flashed his Hunter license and mumbled to himself "How many people do I have to interrupt in one night..." He turned his attention to the woman on his right. She was clearly someone who used her looks to further themselves in life, evidenced by her dense lipstick and heavy makeup. Magnis noticed the look in her eye as she saw him show his license. He grinned at her and leaned back in his seat. "So where are you headed?" He asked her. "Same place you are, hun." She replied, smiling slyly. "Ohh?" Magnis said, pretending it piqued his interest, "I'm off to find a woman, I wonder if you'd get along." "Oh, well, I don't know about that. I don't think you really need to find this girl, I'd wager I can provide whatever it is you're looking for." Magnis smiled wider. "I don't know about that.", he spoke. "Do you know how to use one of these?" he boasted, as he drew his knife from his clothes in the blink of an eye, and stabbed it into the small gap between her legs. She screamed, and he forced his hand over her mouth. "Shh... don't yell it was just a test, to see if you were really what I was looking for. You failed." Panic was strewn all over her face as he removed his hand and leaned back once more, stretching his arm out over her shoulders, and closing his eyes. She sat unmoving for the rest of the flight, and on arrival ran out of the room and was first off the craft. Magnis chuckled and followed suit. He would arrive at the Livingston Estate in a matter of hours. He floated a few ideas around his head as to how he was going to break Haley out as he slowly walked into the sunrise, twirling a dagger around his fingers. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ A x Daring x Rescue "Holy shit that's a big house," Magnis muttered under his breath. Living on the road all his life, he had never stayed in a stationary home, and as a result, none of his residences were particularly large. The thought of living in a mansion was like an entire new world for him. From about 200 metres away, Magnis lay on his stomach, at the edge of a cliff, surveying the area around the house. It was fairly remote with a large open space, filled with delicately kept gardens and flowers, between it and the surrounding forest. A short way down the road was a small town, where Magnis had stopped by to pick up a few things he thought he might need. A couple more knives, a restock of smoke grenades and some binoculars. Peering at the house through his newly acquired binoculars, he saw a smaller building near the entrance to the property that appeared to be a barracks. He saw a few armed guards heading in and out if it. There were about five men total partrolling the property at once, and if he was to sneak in without them noticing, he would have to plan his attack. After a few more minutes, he decided on a strategy. There was a fast river flowing about 20 metres from the backside of the house, which had reasonably thick foliage all along it. It gave him cover all the way up to about 10 metres from the house, where he would have to time his dash in through an upper story window, to avoid the guards. He moved, quickly and silently, into position and executed the plan without fault. He found himself in a bedroom. The walls were painted light pink, and patterned with slightly darker hearts. Magnis laughed to himself at the absurdity that this could be Haley's bedroom, but the notion was confirmed when he looked towards the bed. A king sized monstrosity with a canopy. Lying on the pillow was a stuffed bear, with it's stomach sliced open, and stuffing falling out. On a desk on the other side of the room was a mirror, and a few draws. Unashamed, he opened them to see what she kept in them, and much to his expectation, it was a bandolier of grenades. He took them. Bored, he left the room and entered a large corridor with wooden flooring, and expensive looking paintings on the walls. Barely noticeable however was the small metal device under the lightswitch. If not for his excellent perception, Magnis would not have noticed that it was a laser sensor. Realising that there must be a security system in place, he moved carefully down the hallway, and as he did so, a series of shouting voices became more prevalent. In a spur of excitement, he leapt over the banister, triggering an alarm, but landing right in front of the door kicking it open as he fell. Magnis could not contain his excitement at the sight inside, and did a little jump in glee. There was a dead body in the middle of the room, with Haley being pinned down to the ground by two large men. There were two other adults in the room. An extremely well dressed couple, who Magnis realised were Haley's parents. Haley turned her head to face Magnis, and smiled back at him, snickering a little. The parents screamed and called the guards to release Haley and attack Magnis, and they obeyed. As soon as they were in range of Magnis' arms, they were done for. He twirled flamboyantly, taking a hold of one guard's arm, breaking it as he ducked under the other guard's chest and sent his knee into the man's gut. They both howled in pain, and in the blink of an eye, Magnis sliced both of their necks with a knife from under his clothes. A stream of blood erupted behind Magnis, as he stood straight, and did a bow. Haley clapped, as he walked over to her and offered his hand. She took it, rising to her feet and staring ominously at her parents. They cried out, and tried to make a break for the door, but Magnis was quicker, and leant against it before they could get there. Other guards arrived, and started banging on the door, trying to get it down. "This is such a touching reunion Haley, but could you be so kind as to finish whatever business you have here, so we can get out before one of us finds a bullet lodged in our skull?" Magnis said, in a polite tone. As he finished his sentence, the father rushed Magnis, attempting to use his larger stature to crush Magnis against the door. Magnis sidestepped, and opened the door, as the father ran out, smashing into the mass of people that had gathered right outside. He closed the door again, and saw Haley straddle her mother, pressing a knife to her throat. She gave her a kiss on the cheek, and sliced. "God fucking damn have I wanted to do that for a long time. She was such a bitch. Come on mime, thanks for the help, let's go." Declared Haley, with a smile. "I'm not a bloody.. agh whatever, come on, through this window" A thrown knife smashed a window on the far side of the room, and the two of them dashed out. And ran towards a hill. It was in the direction of the town, so police were starting to gather in that direction. They were forced to the edge of a cliff, with about a 100 foot drop into a gushing river, which was battering against rocks, and splashing high into the air. Sirens blared, and a mix of police and guards yeleld as they ran, guns ready, towards the pair. "Do you trust me?!" Haley asked, speaking quickly. "Not in the slightest!" Snarled Magnis, with a frown starting to cross his face. "Aww, you're no fun," She taunted with a smile, as she gave Magnis a hard pat on the back, sending him crashing and screaming down into the river. She pencil jumped after, shrieking in joy. They both smashed into the river, and were rapidly swept downstream. Gasping for breath, Magnis raised his head above the surface, and got into a position where he could somewhat control his movements. The most painful few minutes of his life ensued, until the river slowed into a speed where he could swim on his own. He dragged himself over to the bank, and hauled himself out, coughing and spluttering. Haley stood in front of him, hands on her hips, dripping wet. She had the dumbest smile Magnis had ever seen on his face and he glared at her. "Are you trying to kill us? I was finally having a bit of fun with the excitement of that whole chase and you go and throw me in the deep end, literally!" Magnis shouted. Laughing, Haley replied "Oh don't be a pussy, I've done that since I was like 10 years old, if you had died then you didn't deserve to travel me." "Arrogant bitch aren't you. I've got higher priorities than spending my time with a psycho girl with a death wish. I've got some crazy shit to learn back home, and promised you I'd show you it, but we can't do that if we kick the bucket." Spat Magnis. "Hmph. I thought you were fun. That there was crazy shit, and it was great. Live in the moment." "..might have enjoyed it a little if you didn't throw me in out of nowhere.." Magnis whispered. "Come on, we should get out of here, unless you count fighting the entire law enforcement here as fun too?" "Don't be a prick.. uhh.. the fuck's your name by the way?" "Magnis Shrew. Pleased to make your acquintance Haley Livingston" "I don't... I don't even know where to even start making fun of that. The name's weird, the delivery was creepy, and the politeness was out of nowhere... You're the oddest kid I've ever met." "Kid? Oh bugger it, no, I'm not even gonna start. We're going to Yorknew City. My family should hopefully be around there somewhere. That's where I ditched them atleast. They could be anywhere I suppose." "So when you said you were a magician, what you meant to say was gypsy?" "Yep, that's right." Magnis said sarcastically. "Come on, I'm going." Haley ran up behind him, and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his chest. "I'm gonna kill you in your sleep you know?" Magnis murmered. "Not if I get you first." Haley answered, resting her chin on Magnis shoulder and closing her eyes. _________________________________________________________________________________________________